Fountain-pen



(No Model.)

' W. W. STEWART.

FOUNTAIN PEN.

INVENTOR;

n. Firms. wwwmmompner. wnsmngwm .c.

,themen grains,

:Pari-Nr WILLIAM W. srnwaar, oFBuooKLYN, new Youri.

FOUNTAIN-Peau.

EilJI-EGIFICr-lllt" forming part of Letters Patent No. 314,547, datedMarch 24, 1385.

' Application filed June 30, 1884. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. STEWART, a citizen of the United States,residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fountain Pen-Holders, ofwhich the following is a speeiiication.l

My invention relates to that class of penholders wherein the tubularhandle or reservoir for holding the ink is closed or sealed at its upperend, and the ink is conducted to the pen through a duct, its place beingtaken by air entering the holder near its lower end.

My Patent No. 214,795, dated April 24, 1879, describes a holder havingtwo or more vents arranged to alternately discharge ink and admit air,the object being to prevent the interference between the enteringbubbles of air and the downilowing ink..V

My present invention constitutes an improvement upon the pen describedin that patent, as will be hereinafter fully described.

Figure l of the accompanying drawings is an exterior view of the pen andholder. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal mid-section thereof. Fig. 3 is a frontview of the feed-pipe removed. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal mid-section ofthe feedpipe. Fig. 5 is a transverse section thereof on the line 5 5 inFig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a view sixni-' lar to Fig. 2, but showing amodification.

Let yA designate the pen, B, the reservoirholder, closed at its upperend; G, the removable cap for inclosing the pen when not in use; D, theplug closing the lower end of the holder A; E, the feed-pipe, and F thefilm-tube.

The plug D screws tightly into the lower end of the holder B, and isformed or provided with the tubular extension G, described in my PatentNo. 237,454, dated February 8,' 1881. Inside of this plug D thefeed-pipe E fits snugly, the pen being embraced between the outersurface ot the feed-pipe and the inner sur'aceof the tubular plug, asusual.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, the feed-pipe E is formed with a reducedcylindrical shank, a, a larger cylindrical body portion, b, and areduced lower portion, c. rlhe latter is reduced on its back and sides,and cornes close against and conforms to the under side ol' the pen onits front face. The feed-pipe is bored with a large hole, d, and a smallhole, e, the former forming what I call the condensing-charnber,7 andthe latter being an ink-duct leading down to near the lower end of thepipe.

Across the front face of the portion c of the pipe are formed twoangular notches, f and j", which I call grips7 These are of saw- .toothforni, their abrupt sides being upper- Inost and their inclined sidesbeing turned downward toward the point of the pen, as shown. This for-n1is best adapted to hold the ink by capillarity, checking its tendency torun down the pen in drops or tears, and it also facilitates the breakingup and saturation or condensing of the entering bubbles of air. The hole@leads downto the lower grip,f, and the upper grip, f, communicatesthrough a small hole or vent opening into the chamber d. These two gripsserve to hold by capillary attraction a small niass of ink in contactwith the pen, where it is ready to be instantly applied to the pen-pointwhenever the writer wishes to make a heavy stroke or shade. In thisrespect they differ from the construction shown in my said Patent No.214,795, which inost nearly resembles my present construction. In thatpatent there are one or two vents communicating with thecondensingchamber, and a slender ink-tube leading thence down to nearthe point of the pen, but not touching the pen except at its open lowerend. Neither the vent above nor the open end of this pipe belowpossesses the function of my present grips, in that they are not adaptedto hold a mass ot' ink in reserve against asudden demand for it, as isthe purpose of these grips. The result is that iny present pen can beused for writing with heavy shades without being constructed with aconipressible holder, such as is shown in my said patent.

Above the upper grip, f', a slit, g, is formed through the front side ofthe feed-pipe, extending to the upper end thereof. This slit isVsuticiently narrow to exert a capillary attraction upon the fluid, beingwhat I term an attractive,77 and it consequently holds continually aline` of fluid which it :nay conduct down to the pen, thus avoiding anyinterference between this fluid andthe rising bubbles of air. The inkwill low down through this slit g, and through the chamber 'd and ducte, and will pass to the pen by either gripf or IOO grip f, or by bothgrips simultaneously. At

the same time the air which flows in to replace the ink used will enterat one or other of the grips-usually at the upper one-and will pass inthe forni of minute bubbles into the condensing-chamber d, where thebubbles become saturated, and are conveyed upward into the inkreservoir. The condensingchamber should be divided by means of one ormore cross-partitions, one only (lettered 7L) being shown. Fig. 5 bestillustrates this partition. Its action is to break up the bubbles andcause them to pass on its opposite sides, and to prevent the formationof large bubbles in the chamber, which would cause the flow of ink toibeirregular.

In order to vkeep the capillary slit galways open and free from cloggingor the formation of a solid deposit from the ink, I insert in it what Iterm an irritant, which consists of a piece of bristle, a horsehair, afine polished gold wire, or other slender flexible substance, k',preferably not an absorbent. This should be free to move in the slit,and may derive motion from the pen by its lower end bearing against it,or not, as desired. Its action is to attract to itself the water of theink, thus keeping the slit, as it were, always lubricated with asolventof the solid constituents ofthe ink.

Through the holder B extends asinall tube, F, which I term thefilm-tube.7 This is similar in principle to the inner chambers orreservoirs in some of my previous patents,not ably Patent No. 237,454,dated February 8, 1881. Its function is to prevent the sudden drying ofthe interior of the reservoir when the latter is nearly empty. Thebubbles of air orfroth or iilm of saturated air and ink will occupy theinterior of this tube and ascend through it to its upper end, where isformed a hole, t', Fig. 2, through which the air will escape into theholder. This film-tube is made with a capillary slit, j, extending downone side to its lower end, which slit forms a capillary conduit or ductfor the ink to climb into as it is forced from theinterior of the tubeby the rising air. The tube F extends down to and preferably fits intothe upper end of the feed-pipe E, thus forming a continuous airpassagefrom the pen below to the top of the holder, and also with the slit inthe feed-pipe, forming a continuous capillary line from the top of theholder down to the ink-grips at the pen.

`When the holder is first made and its interior surfaces are dry itsoperation will be found very defective, as is the case with all pens ofthis character, because the ink is gover'ned by the attraction ofgravitation rather than by capillary attraction, the result being thatthe ink rolls or ows out ofthe pen too freely. 'It is only after theinterior surfaces have been well soaked that the capillary action is asabove described, at which time the flow of ink adapts itselfautomatically to the demand for it. The construction of pen thus fardescribed -is that which is preferred and which operates most perfectly.It is, however, desirable to make a cheaper pen, and for this purp osecertain features of my present invention may be discarded. Fig. 6 showsa pen of this character, the irritant k, the film-tube F, and

-the partition h being dispensed with. The

operation of the remaining parts is the same as above described.

The -feed-pipe F, being removable, may be adapted and fitted to manyexisting pen-hold ers. In this way holders which have been constructedaccording to incorrect principles may be made operative.

I claim as my inventionv 1. A fountain pen-holder consisting of thcombination,with the ink-reservoir, closed at its upper end, of afeed-pipe extending down close along the under side of the pen, formedwith a capillary grip or cavity on its side against the pen, having theshape of a sawtooth, with its abrupt side above and its inclined sidebelow or toward the point of the pen. and the ink-duct leading from thereservoir to said cavity, substantially as set forth.

2. Arfountain penholder consisting of the combination,with theink-reservoir, closed at its upper end, of a feed-pipe with an inkductthrough it for conveying ink therefrom to the pen, provided with one ormore cavities or grips for holding the ink against the pen, and with acapillary slit extending to the duct and from the ink-reservoir down tosaid grip, substantially as set forth.

3. The feed-pipe E, for a fountain penholder, formed with an ink-ductthrough it, one or more recesses or grips on its external surfacedesigned to come in contact with the pen, and with a capillary slitextending down from its upper end, substantially as set forth.

4. The feed-pipe E, fora fountain pen-holder, formed with an ink-ductthrough it enlarged to form a chamber, d, and a partition, h, xed insaid chamber land dividing the same into two separate passages,substantiall y as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The feed-pipe E, for a fountain pen, formed with an ink-duct throughit, and with a capillary slit, g, through its wall, and provided with anirritant, k, of a smooth iiexible substance arranged in said slit, forthe purposes specified. K

V6. In a fountain pen-holder, the combina IOO IIO

tion, with the closed ink-reservoir, of the feed-pipe having an ink-ductleading thence down to the pen, and a film-tube, F, arranged in thereservoir, and provided with a capillary slit,j, along its side,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

7. The combination of reservoir B, slitted film-tube F, extendingtherethrough, and the removable feed-pipe E, its upper end embracing thelower end of said film-tube, sub stantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR C.' FRASER, HENRY CONNETT.

